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As was first reported by Juniorhockey.com:
(see story below from Port Huron Times Herald)
Mike Gershon joins Fighting Falcons staff
Former Icehawk will be an assistant coach
By PAUL COSTANZO
| Times Herald
Michael Gershon got a crash course this past season in the world of coaching at the junior level.
As the head coach and general manager of the New Mexico Renegades of the Western States Hockey League, Gershon handled pretty much everything for the Renegades, including some advertising and marketing.
That experience should help him as he takes on his next role as an assistant with the Port Huron Fighting Falcons.
“I feel like I can do a lot more than a normal assistant would coming in after one year of coaching,” said Gershon, a former Port Huron Icehawks defenseman. “I think it really prepared me. I was doing video, setting up trips, buses, hotels and food, so I’ve got that under my belt, too.”
Gershon joins Jeff Blum and Scott Nichols as assistants on coach Steve Shannon’s staff. He said he’ll likely spend much of his time with the defense, but he’s ready to take on any role Shannon gives him.
“I pretty much ran what (former Icehawks coach Stan Drulia) ran, with some variation,” Gershon said. “A lot of what Pittsburgh runs. Steve has his own philosophy, and I’ll have to adapt to that. Obviously I’ll have my say, but as an assistant, it’s my job to give my opinion and offer my support.”
Gershon played two professional seasons, his first with the Icehawks. In his rookie season, he had seven goals and 28 assists in 72 games. He added four assists in seven playoff games. He played his second season with Drulia and the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL. He had four goals and 15 assists in 58 games.
During the season, he was traded to Trenton, but the deal was revoked when a career-threatening shoulder injury was discovered in a physical. While Gershon finished the 2010-11 season, he made the decision in the offseason to end his playing career.
“Could I still play? Absolutely,” Gershon said. “But was it smart to bust my (behind) all summer, go to a camp and have a doctor tell me I can’t be on the team? So I decided to have surgery and kind of clear stuff out. At the end of June, I kind of started looking around for a coaching job, and it was kind of a right time, right place thing with the team in New Mexico. They had new owners, and they were looking for an ex-pro to coach the team.
“It was a great experience. It taught me a lot. I did pretty much everything down there.”
After leading New Mexico to the playoffs in his first season, Gershon decided to come back to Michigan, where his fiancé, Keri Hirschman, is from. Hirschman landed a job in the front office of the Saginaw Spirit, and Gershon was able to catch on with the Falcons, a team he had helped toward the end of this past season.
“I’m definitely excited being back where I started,” Gershon said. “I met my fiancé here, so I have a warm spot for Port Huron. It’s going to be basically the same core team, and hopefully people will start to come out more. One thing for us is to get out in the community here. We did a lot of that in New Mexico, and I was a big proponent of it here. People want to get involved with the kids.
“I want the team to be a part of this tight community that Port Huron is.”
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